The School of Innovation is an exclusive program for Avanadi worldwide, which stimulates a growth mindset in the next generation of innovators who can build long term partnerships with customers and create sales opportunities. The School of Innovation first launched in Italy and Spain in 2021. Now more countries are involved with a higher participation rate. Rob Bakkers is Netherlands Innovation Lead and part of the international team behind the School of Innovation. Learn more about the program and set-up.

Engaging employees

As a participant of this program, you will meet colleagues from across the globe, connect with Avanade and external innovation SMEs (Subject Matter Expert), and have the opportunity to develop your skills and expertise. Rob: “I have been working at Avanade since 2004 and grew into my role as Innovation Lead. The culture of innovation is a framework for every innovation activity, internally at Avanade and externally at customers. We engage our employees in activities that encourage collaboration, creativity, and innovative thinking. The School of Innovation was introduced last year and now we have joined forces in a more broadly organized way.”

Creating a new curriculum

Together with 11 global Innovation Leads, Rob started the curriculum development process for the edition in 2022: “Last year we had a total of 100 participants across Europe. This time around we almost quadrupled in size, with participants from all over the globe: from Brazil and Europe to Australia and Southeast Asia. During a 4-month program participants will attend 4 modules where they will be presented with classes, online and offline content, recommended books, and additional supporting materials. Registration was opened in December for all Avanadi, where you could register yourself or be nominated.”

Skills of an innovator

The program modules are: Fundamentals of Innovation, Economics of Innovation, Technology for Innovation and Building the Future: “We combined master classes, assignments and working groups in order to design an effective learning experience. Participants get a better view and understanding of our innovation architecture and develop a client-centric attitude with the help of fundamentals of strategy and industry vision. You will learn what it takes to become a true innovator. The School of Innovation is a steppingstone towards a lifelong education in innovation methodologies.”

Pool of innovators

Next to a full program for Avanadi, the team is also looking into a possible client track for customers to co-create together: “We help get our customers unstuck from any challenge they might face by developing innovative solutions with the use of the best technology. The other way around, customers can help us with guest speakers, internships, business cases and more. In this way we can develop new relationships and sales opportunities. The School of Innovation will provide a new talent pool of skilled innovators.”

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